1. Field of the Invention:
The size of a nostril, or of a nasal airway, may be gauged by using certain measurements of digits (particularly the thumb, the fifth digit, and the other digits of the hand). Those measurements may be carried out using a sizing gauge, such as one that includes sizing lines indicating a variety of distinct sizes. The sizing lines may indicate widths that overlie one another, so that a user trying to gauge airway size need not move the digit between separate gauges.
2.Description of Related Art:
The internal nostril or nasal airway-sizing guides disclosed herein facilitate accurate measurement of certain dimensions of an individual's digits. Such accurate measurement is useful, for example, to gauge the internal measurement of the nostril or nasal airway, and to use that measurement to select the appropriate size nasal insert, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,562,057, which document is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The inventor has discovered that certain dimensions of an individual's digits can be correlated to certain dimensions of an individual's internal nostril, or nasal airway size. Gauging the size of an individual's internal nostril or nasal airway by measuring certain dimensions of their digit(s) provides a highly correlating sizing method that is much easier, faster and more convenient than measuring the nostril or nasal airway directly.
In particular, the widest part of the digit distal to the distal-most interphalangeal joint of the digit correlates surprisingly well with airway size. (The widest part typically occurs somewhere below the margin of the nail.)
Thumb-based sizing gauge nostril size prediction is known in the art; an example of a prior-art thumb-based sizing guide is shown in FIG. 4. While this guide is effective, certain improvements, disclosed herein, can significantly improve accuracy and determine repeatability of sizing. The prior-art guide includes three side-by-side silhouettes: one each for small, medium, and large sized-thumbs. To assess size, a user places the thumb over one of the silhouettes and judges whether the thumb is larger than, smaller than, or about the same size as the silhouette. If larger or smaller, the user tries another silhouette and ultimately tries to select the size whose silhouette best correlates to the thumb size.
This prior art guide suffers from at least two disadvantages: it does not specify the exact place of width measure, which causes errors in judgment as to which width of measure to use because the user must move back and forth between the silhouettes trying to determine how best to match which part of their digit; and, it does not make any measure of length. The lack of a measure for a specific length causes errors in judgments as to which length is best correlated to the most appropriate fit.
The sizing gauges and methods disclosed herein address these two disadvantages.